Gutiérrez: ‘It is repugnant’ children are being separated from their families during Christmas time

Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez of Illinois confronted the secretary of Homeland Security by enumerating lies the Trump Administration has told from Day 1, especially those about immigration, immigrants, asylum seekers, children in detention, family separation and Latinos.

The confrontation took place Thursday (Dec. 20) during an oversight hearing in the House Judiciary in Washington, D.C.

At the hearing, Gutiérrez, who is retiring at the end of this Congress, specifically confronted Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen about her Tweet from June 17, 2018 denying that the Trump Administration has a policy of separating children from their parents.

The Democratic congressman said the Trump administration quite clearly does have such policy.

“The majority on this committee must think you are doing a fantastic job, because they ordered this hearing just so the secretary could come before us and look tough and remorseless just in time for the holidays,” said Gutiérrez from his prepared remarks during his five minutes. “I suspect that if you still have your job in about three weeks and you are called before the House Judiciary Committee, you’ll really look forward to their sympathetic questions.”

“I want to start by praising this Administration and your role in it. There is really one thing this Administration has done better than any other Administration in American history, and that is: lie,” Gutiérrez said.

In his remarks, Gutiérrez pointed out to the following lies from the Trump Administration:

▪ President sent the former Press Secretary out say his inauguration crowd was the biggest in American history – and the American people laughed at him because the evidence was plain to see.

▪ President’s own remarks on the world stage before the UN General Assembly when he said he had accomplished more in his time as President than anyone ever – and the World laughed at him because the evidence is plain to see.

▪ President Trump descended the golden escalator at Trump Tower to announce his candidacy by saying that México was “sending” us the worst of the worst who were mostly rapists and murderers…

▪ Trump saying he was “required” to break up migrant families because of “bad laws that the Democrats gave us.”

▪ The one about México paying for a wall from the Pacific to the Gulf;

▪ All of the ones about the massive invasion via migrant caravan that would ruin America;

▪ When Trump said there were “good people” among the Nazis and white supremacists demonstrating in Charlottesville who killed and injured counter demonstrators….

“That time, nobody was laughing, but the evidence was plain to see that these are gigantic lies,” Gutiérrez said.

Gutiérrez said that former Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly had told a room full of Hispanic Congressmen and women that poor uneducated Latinos – like his parents from Puerto Rico – would never fit in or someday, send their children to Congress as equal partners in this Democracy.

“It is as if you cannot see the reality of modern immigration or the contributions of anyone who came from countries other than Norway or other parts of Europe. It is as is you and the Trump Administration are blind,” Gutiérrez said, adding that the Trump administration “agrees with Tucker Carlson that immigrants bring danger and dirt.”

Gutiérrez said “It is repugnant to me, and astonishing to me that during Christmas, a time of which we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, a Jesus Christ who had to flee, for his life with Mary and Joseph,” children are being separated at the border from their families.

The Congressman said “shame on everybody that separate children and allows them to stay at the other side of the border fearing death, fearing hunger, fearing sickness, shame of us for wearing the badge of Christianity during Christmas and allow the secretary to come here and lie.”